Kid Rock Q & A: What it Was Like Attending the Malice at the Palace

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Kid Rock at a Yankees-Rangers game in New York. The Detroit native happens to be in the midst of a tour, so he’s out promoting that with Jim Beam and was nice enough to answer a few brief questions about some of his favorite sports memories, Malice at the Palace, and LeBron James, among other things.

Q: You recently kicked off a tour and it’s just $20 a ticket. Sounds like a great idea, but how did you manage that? You can’t even buy two beers here (Yankee Stadium) without spending more than $20.

KID ROCK: Being paid less upfront allowed me to do it this way. It was with the fans in mind. The amount of money people have to spend for tickets these days is bullshit. So we made it $20 a ticket and $4 a beer. So if people show up, and shit like t-shirts sell OK, I’ll make some of it up on the back end. Ticket prices are just fucking crazy now and getting out of hand. It’s a small step, but hopefully it works.

Q: It would be fun to see something similar happen in sports. They priced out the lunatic when this place opened. Yankee games used to be a lot crazier.

KID ROCK: Yeah, I mean, I understand why athletes and musicians make so much money. The fan interest and popularity dictates that. But still, $20 million a year because you can hit a home run? Are you fucking kidding me? It’s always crazy to me what people get paid because they can play guitar or dunk a basketball.

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Q: You’re clearly a fan of all things Detroit across the board. What’s your favorite Detroit sports moment of all time?

KID ROCK: Wow. It’s tough to pick just one. I went to a Lions game in Miami a few years back and the Lions actually won. This is the Lions. And they won on the road. That’s a big deal [laughs]. But I gotta go with the Pistons beating the Lakers (in 2004). That was when I had first really arrived, had court side seats, the whole bit. It was amazing. You can’t beat that.

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Q: What about your least favorite Detroit moment?

KID ROCK: Man. Well, there’s the Lions [laughs]. Nah, but I was actually there for Malice at the Palace.

Q: Wow, on the floor? Did you run for cover? That must’ve been chaos. I remember that Turtle looking fan getting clocked by one of the Pacers.

KID ROCK: Yeah. It was nuts, just nuts. Food and beer flying everywhere and you got players running into the stands swinging at fans. The devil in me was loving every second of it [laughs] but man, it was fucking chaos.

KID ROCK: Probably Sparky (Anderson) or Chuck (Daly). And while he’s not a coach, I love Ernie Harwell. The greatest.

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Q: Gotta love Ernie Harwell, hard not to. Speaking of another Detroit favorite, you’re friends with Eminem. How often do you hang out? Ever get out to a game together?

KID ROCK: Yeah, he’s a friend and a good guy. I don’t see him too often but we hang out once a year or so and have dinner or something.

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Q: I guess I’ll end it with everyone’s favorite topic, LeBron James. Everyone has an opinion on this guy. People seem to either love him or hate him. Do you give a shit either way?

KID ROCK: I don’t really care either way. He’s a great player and I’ve hung out with him a few times. He’s a good dude. 90% of NBA players think they can rap, but they can’t rap for shit. But not LeBron. LeBron’s cool.

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In the early innings of the game, before Kid Rock and I had a chance to sit down, he had mentioned what an amazing place Lambeau Field was to see a football game — especially early in the season when you’re not freezing your ass off — and how pissed off he was that he didn’t take Tom Brady’s advice at the Kentucky Derby and throw some money down on Orb. [Photo courtesy of Edelman PR]